यह सिपाही हिन्दुस्तान की हिफ़ाज़त कर रहा है (This Soldier Is Defending India), Indian Army recruiting poster, Bombay
A khaki-uniformed Indian infantryman with fixed bayonet stands in front of a red map of the subcontinent, above a Hindi panel saying that this soldier defends Hindustan and his own home and household, and that the best way to help one's household is to join the army. The tell is the reframing: enlistment is presented as the same duty as protecting one's family, so the pull of household loyalty is transferred onto army service.
- Date
- 1914
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- Indian Army recruiting in British India (sponsor not named on the sheet); printed by The Times Press, Bombay
- Region
- South Asia
- Country
- British India
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- British Raj
- Leader
- Charles Hardinge
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Home front
- Event
- World War I
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (Imperial War Museums, PST 12594), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (printed in Bombay, 1914-18, before 1931; Commons: UK Crown copyright expired)
Imperial War Museums (IWM PST 12594), via Wikimedia Commons
Text on the object
यह सिपाही हिन्दुस्तान की हिफ़ाज़त कर रहा है । वह अपने घर और घरबारवालों की हिफ़ाज़त कर रहा है ॥ अपने घरबारवालों की मदद करने का सब से अच्छा तरीक़ा यह है कि फ़ौज में भरती हो जाओ ॥ THE TIMES PRESS, BOMBAY [illegible small number at top right, cut by the sheet edge]
This soldier is protecting Hindustan. He is protecting his own home and his household. The best way to help your household is to join the army.
Devanagari read from the 1280 px image; the nukta on some letters is faint. Translation is a literal machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader.
